The Crazy Wisdom Community Journal • January through April 2022 • Page 89
Want to clean up your own neighborhood or an area of Ann Arbor that needs some ecological support? NAP, or the City of Ann Arbor’s Natural Area Preservation program, is an Ann Arbor initiative where you can volunteer with your friends for one of their scheduled cleanup days or create your own.
This could be a really cool way to combine science class or homeschooling, teaching kids how to preserve natural areas and how to identify what’s happening in a natural area through a volunteering effort. Tina Stephens is the City of Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation’s volunteer and outreach coordinator. She said that the city hosts “Stewardship Workdays” in local parks. She told me that kids are welcome at all of their events, but here is a list of events that are most kid-friendly: Gallup Park on the Huron River, Botsford Nature Area near Miller Rd., and M-14 on the northwest side, Marshall Nature Area off of Dixboro and Plymouth Road on the northeast side, and MaryBeth Doyle Nature Area near Platt Road on the east side of town.
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Available on Amazon - $14.95 ea Visit: caroltrembath.com Workday coordinator Katherine Beauchamp said, “NAP works to protect and restore Ann Arbor’s natural areas and foster an environmental ethic among the community. [This includes] plant propagation, seed harvesting, invasive plant removal, and trail maintenance.” Group workdays are all open to the public. You can find a calendar of events at a2gov.org/NAP. “Groups who are interested can set up private workdays,” Beauchamp explained. It’s a bit more flexible, so we can set a date and time that works best for everyone.” It takes a minimum of eight volunteers to plan a private workday, so bring your friends and family. “For minors we need them to be accompanied by an adult,” Katherine said. “They can come with a parent or group leader. It depends on the group’s needs and who is coming to the event.” Also, “If kids have a natural area in their neighborhood they want to preserve, we can set up a private workday to guide them through how to preserve their natural area.” This could be a really cool way to combine science class or homeschooling, teaching kids how to preserve natural areas and how to identify what’s happening in a natural area through a volunteering effort. “Younger kids can’t do pole saws, but we can have them collect seeds or pull plants [while] supervised,” Katherine explained. “The first thing we direct people to look at is the public workday calendar. That’s at http://vhub.at/nap.” NAP is located at 3875 East Huron River Drive in Ann Arbor. For more information about NAP, you can call (734)794-6627, visit a2gov.org/NAP, or join the NAP volunteer opportunities email newsletter at service.govdelivery.com/service/ subscribe.html?code=MIANNA_104.
Create Better Futures for Local Kids Community Action Network is a group of volunteers who offer after-school programs for kids, educational summer programs, and stabilization support services for youth to address social inequity. Valerie Muthuswami is the Director of Volunteers at CAN. She told us that working with CAN is less in-person volunteering and more about fundraising. Kids can create their own fundraising campaign to support other kids in Washtenaw County, donate funds or school supplies for kids, or organize their own donation drive. “Easy ways for kids to get involved include a donation drive for Thanksgiving or other holidays with their class, team, or neighborhood friends. They can collect food, gifts, holiday gift bags, or other needed items for kids and their families in our communities.”
CAN works by a “Theory of Change,” in which local partners in under-resourced neighborhoods around Washtenaw County partner with the program to pull together resources and educational programming to offer kids a better future. CAN works by a “Theory of Change,” in which local partners in under-resourced neighborhoods around Washtenaw County partner with the program to pull
